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Playing music other than trance @ a party

Hey guys,

Well, in the time I've been Dj'ing, I've really only stuck to House/Trance parties and done what I really love. But, one of my good friends birthday is coming up, and she doesnt like house or trance at all. She wants me to DJ at her party, and I told her yea. Well, the point is she likes hip-hop, regeaton, salsa/merengue, and other types of latin music. I am completely unfamiliar to Dj'ing this genre and was looking for some tips and ideas as to what I should do and how I should do it. Thinking about just cross-fading everything...I need opinions

Thanks in adv

Atmos

There's plenty of latin and jazz house.

Make a mix and give to her friend and see if she likes it.

It's fun stuff to mix.

play some jazzy drum n bass or something

alternatively, buy some latin CD, play that and get drunk.

you might be able to cheat your way in with funky tribal house with latin influences. There's plenty of that stuff. If she likes salsa/merengue there's a good chance she'll dig that too.

You screwed up. You should have told her to hire a DJ who plays what she likes.

Yea but she's a real good friend so I'm doing it as a favor. Anyway, thanks for everything guys, but what I need is tips on how to mix (the actual technicality of it). Should I just crossfade everything?

quote:

Originally posted by Atmos Yea but she's a real good friend so I'm doing it as a favor. Anyway, thanks for everything guys, but what I need is tips on how to mix (the actual technicality of it). Should I just crossfade everything?

You're going to be looking at a lot more sudden cuts and transitions rather than the fluid, drawn-out mixes you are probably used to. I've been running into the same problem. To me, the hardest part has to do with the fact that people who listen to hip-hop usually listen to no particular BPM-range in general. As such, it makes it hard to mix 87 BPM hip-hop tracks with 103 BPM ones. In progressive house, you know you can get away with playing tracks in the 127 - 132 range, or in trance you can play stuff in the 136 - 142 range, and everyone will be happy... but this just isn't so when it comes to hip-hop. People want to hear what is popular, and what is popular doesn't mix well with everything else that's popular.

I've been meaning to go through all of my hip-hop/rap mp3s and group them by similar BPM to see how many mixes I can get away with. I'm not an experienced scratch-DJ or turntablist so being creative without sounding like ass is hard for me. I mainly just need to practice it more. A lot of times I just end up crossfading the tracks or cutting them at a time which seems appropriate, and mixing the ones I can, so that at least I feel justified in DJing as opposed to just setting a WinAmp playlist.

One thing that I have been doing is mixing popular tracks that happen to have a 4/4 beat (Nelly Furtado - Maneater, for example) in with some house pop remixes and then going back to playing "mainstream" stuff. I like to see how much I can get away with. I've only played for a few house parties with mostly friends though, so they are fairly forgiving.

You might pre-make a playlist for this one. Group stuff together as best as you can and, when all else fails, just fade it over.

taht's not the best advice really...

you must read the crowd and a mainstream crowd isn't as forgiving as trance one...they might not know the proper terms, but they'll tell you that you suck really easy.

Thing to do is try to mix when you are confident it's possible...and in all the other cases just fade it...

it'll let you sound that you know what you're doing...and in the other hand you'll show that you know that some stuff is just clearly unmixable with the skills you have (I'm assuming you're not a wild turntablist.)

People who listen to those genres mostly couldn't give a sh*t they just wonna get drunk and dance. Start the first beat of the incoming track on the very last beat of the outgoing track. Done.
Don't bother with anything fancy/technial.
Like already said, try some remixes, stuff with latin influence.

quote:

Originally posted by BOOsTER taht's not the best advice really... you must read the crowd and a mainstream crowd isn't as forgiving as trance one...they might not know the proper terms, but they'll tell you that you suck really easy.

quote:

People who listen to those genres mostly couldn't give a sh*t they just wonna get drunk and dance.

+1.

I forgot to mention that track selection is still important...
Don't stray from the top 40.
If you do you may get attacked on the grounds of "trying to be creative".

Yup...Top 40 is very important with "radio-listening" people. I guess imma have to swallow my pride and not play "creative."

quote:

Originally posted by Atmos Yup...Top 40 is very important with "radio-listening" people. I guess imma have to swallow my pride and not play "creative."

Yeah it is going to suck. But hey you live you learn. Next time tell the broad to get another DJ unless she's giving oral favors.

I used to get a way a lot of time by playing a few of my favorite techno remixes of songs. Stuff like Above & Beyond remix of Britney Spears, Scumfrog remixes of Madonna goes over well.

A few well know trance tracks like:
Children
Sandstorm (Omg cheese)
Heaven
Iio - Rapture
Call on Me
also works with main stream crowd.

Also going retro ( 90s mainstream dance ) is good too. Songs like Eurythmics - Sweetdreams
Amber - Sexual
can get you somewhere, just make sure you don't stray too much.

Well I hope that you're at least getting paid for it. Friend or not, you're doing them a service by stepping out of your normal boundaries. Even if it's a few bucks to compensate for having to collect the music that you don't normally have.

I've played many parties like this as a mobile jock and as the hookup for friends. If you're not familiar with the music, I suggest doing your homework. Much like you would for music you normally play. The Billboard Top 40 is an easy way to get an idea of what is out there. If you're friend has a MySpace account, browse around her friends' profile searching for music that they like.

IF all else fails, ask for a playlist. I mobile dj from time-to-time (where I get paid well) and I ask for a playlist. You can easily play it off as if you just want to make sure that you play exactly what they want. Then you build off of that. But if she's your friend, then she should know that you don't normally play that kind of stuff, so she should be more than willing to help you out. Remember, she's getting a discount dj.

As for the mixing. If you can do it, it will be impressive. But honestly, these crowds just want a soundtrack to their party. In short, you're just a human jukebox. Sure you have to interact with the crowd, but your "skills" won't matter much.

I played a similar party for my boss's daughter and did alot of cut mixing. I even had a friend jump in for me in-between beer breaks. We would throw in some trance and house (usually just euro-trance or high energy stuff) and actually "mix" for a few minute, but would go back to the hip-hop and top 40 that they liked. One kid came up to us and was realy intrigued. And we were really sucking. It didn't matter.

Lol, yea. I am getting paid though so it's not that bad. Just that I'm not familiar with ways to mix hip-hop, regeatton, etc. other than just cross-fading and slamming the other track. Anyway, I appreciate the advice and cheesy track examples, which unfortunately I'm going to have to resort to.

PS - The playlist idea is a superb one... less HW for me.

yo man ok i have been djing for 5 years now ... and only for this year i have started djing trance and electronic music ... but man i can tell u everything about djing what u ahve to play.. its not hard its by far easier dan trance . make sure to keep the beats close to each other .. for certain songs u could bring it nicely but most songs u bring in with sudden change of beat once u no what songs they like and u keep the songs pumping to what they want to hear it will be good make sure not to let the song run for to long unless people are really charring to it . if u need any more tips pm me ok i got ya back .... LOL cheers

mostly in latin music partys the tracklist is everything!!! you could just let a cd play but if the songs are well known by the guests they will like it, i work at a party rentals bussines down here in mexico if you need some help pm me and ill be happy to help you finding some songs

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